Definitions of Plot

American Heritage Dictionary
plot
n.
A small piece of ground, generally used for a specific purpose: a garden plot.
A measured area of land; a lot.
A ground plan, as for a building; a diagram.
See graph1.
The pattern of events or main story in a narrative or drama.
A secret plan to accomplish a hostile or illegal purpose; a scheme

A space. A story. A scheme.
Is a plot a series of questions? What happens once they're answered? Does plot disappear once it's revealed?

Simplicity

For the record.

Remember there is a differency between CLARIFYING and SIMPLIFYING, just as there is a difference between COMPLEX and CONVOLUTED. Know when you're dealing with what.

"We make systems when we watch things to make sense of things" -- probably the same as saying "we're hard-wired for narrative" (both Dietz)

Multiple Time Frames

I'm working on a play called "Summer People" that involves multiple time frames, and several shifts in time. I had a meeting with Suzan yesterday, talking about the next draft. Here were some points that seem worth remembering.

*You should know how many time frames you have at work in your play.

*At some point, if you don't know what the "trigger" is that moves you from one time frame to the other, you should figure it out. This isn't being persnickety, it's about the logic and motion of the story...even if it's a weird trigger...

* CHOOSE where your story is complicated and where it is simple. If you are working with a very complicated overall structure, there may be events or smaller sequences of events that you need to make simple, so that the audience can have some touchstones.

*Are there places where your story can PARALLEL to trigger a shift in time?

*Is it the MEMORY of a character that triggers a shift in time?

*Are you dealing with an INTERNAL flashback (particular to a character's memory) or an EXTERNAL flashback (where the whole play is moving)? How is each triggered?

*If Character A is having hallucinations, and that's a major plot point, maybe B and C shouldn't have moments of hallucinatory theatricality -- who OWNS hallucinations in the play?

For now, these all seem like very good points, maybe not just for this play but for other plays.

Source Outline Template for Adaptation

The following is a template from Steven that we'll be using in our adaptation to film class, to use as a nuts-and-bolts reference in outlining story, which we will then use to create outlines for our adaptations. That made sense, right?

1. BLURB. A quick line or two, telling what the story is about. The kind of description you'd find on the back of a video guide.
2. MAIN CHARACTER(S). Name, age, central characteristics, relationship to one another.
3. SECONDARY CHARACTER(S). Same as above.
4. UNSEEN CHARACTER(S). Same as above.
5. TRIGGER OR LAUNCH OF STORY (BEGINNING). One (or perhaps several) events which begin the narrative. This is not a "feeling" or "problem" -- it is an event or observable action. Brief.
6. THE STORY. All necessary events laid out as a "list" -- chronologically in the order WHICH THE AUTHOR USES THEM. List nothing that could be omitted and still have the story be accomplished.
7. CONCLUSION OR RESOLUTION OF STORY (ENDING). The final event (or events) of the narrative. Brief.
8. POINT OF VIEW. From whose perspective is the story told? WHY?
9. MOOD, TONE, STYLE OF THE STORY. For example: upbeat or down, gritty or slick, naturalistic or fantastical, etc.
10. THREE THINGS THAT YOU BELIEVE WILL TRANSLATE EASILY OR WELL TO THE SCREEN.
11. THREE THINGS THAT WILL BE DIFFICULT OR CHALLENGING TO TRANSLATE TO THE SCREEN.
12. ON A PERCENTILE BASIS, HOW MUCH OF THE SOURCE MATERIAL DO YOU THINK WILL SURVIVE IN THE SCREENPLAY?

For future reference, on other adaptation projects...